Eternal: Chapter 1 The Stranger
by Foxthethiefking
Summary: All is well in the park (for once) when a new guest arrives at the park, His name is Francis, a subtle stoner new hire at the local music store who volunteers his off days at the park. Unknown to the others He and Skips share are familiar...and not on the best of terms. What could this young man have in store for the gang? Rated T for drug references and future violence.


**Eternal**

A Regular Show Story

Chapter 1: Stranger

The sun was shining brightly on the park and the surrounding city and all was as it should be. Pops was happily enjoying the sunshine "Good show, yes indeed very good show" he whispered to himself before laughing in that carefree manner of his, Mordocai and Rigby were slacking off of work when they were supposed to be watering the plants, and Benson was shouting at them for slacking off. Muscle Man was waving his shirt around after telling one of his numerous 'my mom' jokes to High Five Ghost and Skips was meditating in his house, a content smile spread across his face _"All is right with the universe, maybe things will stay normal for once"_ the white haired yeti thought to himself with a relaxed sigh.

However his hopes for normalcy were soon dashed as a jolt ran through his mind and a strangely familiar presence entered the park, though for some reason he couldn't place a finger on where he knew it from or what intentions it had for him, the park, or his friends but one thing became glaringly obvious to him, things were certainly going to get interesting very soon.

At the far side of the park a typical looking stranger was walking along one of the many paths through the park, relishing the warmth his black hoodie absorbed from the bright sun. His face shaded by the patchwork fedora on his head, tired and jaded eyes red and bloodshot from smoking too much weed hidden behind a slight glare reflecting off of his eyeglasses. His slightly pointed and dimpled chin under a thick goatee that desperately needed a trim, the corners of his mouth twitching into a faint grin as a flood of memories of the park he found himself walking in came to him in a flood, before a pained hiss slipped from between his teeth, causing the young man to shake his head "No…mustn't remember those years…only hurt lays in the past" he mumbled to himself before he continued on his walk, slowly making his way toward the two story white house in its center before a loud, obviously angry voice bombarded his ears.

"If you two slackers don't get back to work watering those plants RIGHT now you're FIRED!" Looking up the stranger saw a tall, skinny gumball machine shouting at an equally tall if not slightly taller blue jay and a small raccoon who roughly came up to the formers knees or waist. "Okay Benson you don't have to yell at us all the time." the blue jay said, wiping a little sweat off of his feathered brow before picking up the hose and spraying some nearby flowers down with a light misting of water, his voice indicating he wasn't much older than the young stranger himself.

"Seriously Benson what could POSSIBLY go wrong if you left us alone with the hose for a few minutes?" his diminutive raccoon companion piped up, his voice sounding a few years younger if not slightly more immature. "Oh I'm sure you two could find SOME way to screw things up. Just….get back to work. If you're not working when I come back you're both FIRED!" The gumball machine the young man assumed was named Benson shouted before turning and walking in the young man's direction, causing him to smile as he opened his mouth to speak "Excuse me sir? May I take by your authoritative tone with those two underperformers that you are the manager of this park?" he said, causing Benson to look up from his clipboard

"Huh? Oh….yes I am. Can I help you with something?" Benson asked, his eyes scanning this newcomer, a slight frown forming on his lips as he took in the newcomers attire: Hoodie and Jeans with a tear in the left knee, worn sneakers that have clearly seen many miles of road. "_He looks like almost a big a slacker as Mordocai and Rigby…but he's very well spoken...interesting"_ Benson thought to himself as the stranger smiled faintly and extended a hand in greeting "Greetings. My name is Francis, Francis D. Brown. I just got a job at the nearby music store and find myself with some spare time on my hands, my hours being mostly nights you see, and well….allow me to get to the point. I was wondering if you were accepting applications for part time work."

"Oh. Well hello there. My name is Benson and I AM indeed the manager of this park. Unfortunately we're not accepting applications…I'm already wasting enough of the parks money paying those two slackers over there" Benson replied, taking the strangers hand in a firm shake. "Hey! You know we can hear you right Benson? You don't need to insult us." Mordocai called over indignantly "Yeah Benson, besides you hardly pay us anything...Besides Mordocai is the loser always slacking off" Rigby chimed in before receiving a swift punch to the shoulder from Mordocai, causing him to cry out in pain before grumbling under his breath as he returned to his job.

Francis smiled at the odd pair, finding their curious show of friendship to be refreshing before turning back to the lanky gumball machine "I see….well…perhaps I could volunteer on my free days? Currently my shift hours are a little spotty, I'd be more than happy to help out whenever need be" This caused Benson to raise an eyebrow curiously before chuckling

"Are you serious? If you'd be willing to just work for free like that then we'd be more than happy to accept your help, Thomas our newest employee has the day off the day after tomorrow, do you think you could fill in for him then Francis?"

"Benson...there's nothing I would enjoy more…and please, call me Frank" He Said with a wide grin, of course the truth was that he really had no true interest in the work itself it was merely a means to an end, unsupervised work time in the park would give him plenty of time to get stoned to the gills that he otherwise couldn't do at his apartment, what with his land lord being a tight ass on smoking. "I assume that there will be introductions to your other employees? How about that handsome pair over there?" he asked, a quick unseen flash of purple coming to his eyes at the word 'handsome' before just as quickly disappearing, his choice of words causing Benson to quirk an eyebrow curiously before shrugging it off as nothing but his imagination.

"I don't see why not….Hey Mordocai, Rigby, get over here now!" Benson shouted as a means of summoning the duo of slackers, the two of them dropping what they were doing almost immediately before hurrying over as if their lives depended upon it…which Frank wagered they very well may have. "What's up Benson…who's your friend?" Rigby asked as he looked up at Frank, a little more purple flashing into his eyes behind the glare in his glasses at the sight of the small raccoon before Mordocai spoke up. "Don't tell me you just gave our jobs to this guy and you just want to rub our faces in it"

"No nothing like that….yet" Benson said with a smirk "He's just volunteering here should we need him, but I MAY offer him your jobs if you aren't careful" "yeah, whatever. 'Sup? I'm Rigby" Rigby greeted, trying to act cool "You know…" Frank hummed as he kneeled down and smiled at him "I have a close friend who would just LOVE you" he said with a warm smile before shaking the little furred man's hand "Really? Do you think you could hook me up?" Rigby said before shooting Mordocai a cocky smirk that said 'Score! Jealous much?' Frank chuckled "oh…I think that can be arranged" "YES!" Rigby shouted happily, causing Mordocai to groan in annoyance at his friends display. "How will I know them when I see them?" Rigby asked eagerly, almost bouncing in place."Oh…I'm fairly certain you'll know them when you meet them…tomorrow good for you?" Frank asked, his happy tone easily hiding untold knowledge about his friend.

"That totally works for me hmm, you see Mordocai? You can't even ask Margret out on a date and I'VE got myself a hot date with the new guys' friend, who has the skills now?" Rigby gloated before receiving another blow to the shoulder, causing him to whimper in pain"Whatever dude, you only got lucky because he brought it up…anyway I'm Mordocai. Nice to meet you Frank" Mordocai greeted as he extended a feathery hand as Frank stood up to take it in a firm shake.

"The pleasure is all mine, if you guys need some new music hit me up at the shop; I'm usually hooked up with the latest tunes from all around, can even get you a discount…if the boss doesn't find out, last thing I need is him on my ass." He replied causing the blue jay to grin and laugh before responding "Trust me, I know ALL about that dude."

"Well you're going to learn a whole lot MORE about it if you two don't get back to work while I finish the introductions" Benson interjected, shooting the duo a quick glare before turning back to Frank. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to pops, he's the owner of the park and my boss' son, just prepare yourself…he's a little…eccentric." He said with a hint of worry crossing his face but soon relaxed as Frank laughed a little.

"Oh don't you worry Benson, I've dealt with eccentrics most of my life and you may not know it by looking at me but I'm quite the eccentric myself, we all just express it in different ways." He said as his smile morphed into a wry grin, memories of his companions rushing to his mind before thinking to himself _"Yes…very eccentric…but I think they'll find their places around these parts."_

However his thoughts were soon interrupted by a loud and jovial giggle from an elderly man with a VERY large head, looking almost like a lollipop with his thin, stick like body and appendages. "Hey pops, I'd like to introduce you to our new volunteer." Benson motioned in his direction before he stepped forward and removed his hat in a deep bow as he put on his best gentlemanly voice "Greetings sir pops my name is Francis Dylan Brown but you may call me Frank, truly it is a pleasure to meet one of such refinement such as you." after a small giggling fit typical of him pops returned the bow, sweeping his top hat off of his large head

"The pleasure is all mine. I'm glad to see the younger generation hasn't lost its manners, it will be a pleasure to have you donate your free time to our humble park and it is my sincere hope that your time here will be as enjoyable as it is enriching." The older man said in an equally gentlemanly and completely natural way as though it were second nature, all the while Benson's brow raised slightly, impressed by the positive impression the assumed slacker was leaving but his inner skeptic remembered how promising Mordocai and Rigby had seemed when THEY first arrived.

"Well I'd love to hang around and let you two chat but we've got a few more introductions to finish up, I'll see you later pops" Benson said, interrupting the two of them before leading Frank off, once out of earshot he cracked a smile and glanced back at the young man "Wow. Pops is usually always happy to meet someone new but you really left a good impression. I've got a good feeling about you…just don't make me regret it." He said, his brow furrowing a little to emphasize his seriousness. "Trust me Benson the last thing I intend to do is make you regret my working here." "I'll hold you to that…oh hey there's Thomas. Thomas! Come over here!"

Benson suddenly called out to a young goat boy who appeared to be Frank's age as well, his horns long and straight, his beard rather than being long and unruly trimmed into a neat chin patch, though more than a soul patch. His clothing not too dissimilar from Franks, consisting of a t-shirt and jeans with sneakers. Introductions were quick, the young goat seeming friendly enough before Benson dragged him onward. Soon after He was introduced to Muscle Man and his friend High Five Ghost….needless to say things went smooth overall…despite the fact that the 'my mom' jokes quickly grew old and Benson's temper quickly began to rise so they broke things off and headed to what looked like a cart garage with a small home attached to it.

"Wait here. I'll go bring Skips over so he can say hi." Benson said as he approached the front door and knocked, and as the white haired head and shoulders of Skips poked out from his door Benson smiled and motioned for him to follow and meet the new volunteer. Skips grinned widely…until that is until he looked into Frank's eyes. A few seconds passed before skips looked at Benson with a mixture of anger and confusion on his face. "Benson you can NOT let him work here!" "Why not skips? He's working for free." The gumball machine asked with concern etched onto his brow. "He's from my past! A traitor I thought long dead by now." Skips said with a glare, his hands balling into fists.

With a smile and a laugh, Frank said but two words of greeting…those words were…

"Hello….Walks"

(x3 well that's all for now. chapter 2 in in the works :3 drop a review and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism please x3 sorry if this was a little hard to read. the paragraphing got a little wonky on the transfer from documents)


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